We play a game of cricket on a Sunday

It was a spontaneous decision to play cricket. One of my class mates who hailed from the city proper was a regular player in one of the cricket cubs and, hence, was knowledgeable. Another classmate was Reddy from Hyderabad – he also played cricket. These two were the ones who suggested that we play cricket on a Sunday in the grounds of the Kolkata airport. They roped in a couple of our instructors who knew the people who agave permission to use the grounds and even made available a sort of cricket kit that consisted on a worn out bat and used balls.
Anyway, on the appointed Sunday, a couple of bats and nearly new ball appeared along with a pair of wicket keepers gloves and pads.
I was not much of a player but knew a few basics of cricket – hence, I remained a spectator. As I saw the game progress, I remembered the famous saying of George Bernard Shaw – cricket is a game of fools played by 22 and watched by 22,000. Of course, the viewership today could be 22-million, thanks to the spread of the shorter version of the game via satellite channels. The ODIs have made cricketing terms a part of everyday dialogues even between housewives. It is to listen to them arguing over the dismissal of a player – they would speak as it they were experts. Obviously, they also sit glued to the TV sets when a game is on and base their remarks on the observation of commentators.
A regards the game we were playing in the airport club, the interest fizzled out by lunch time because, even though it was winter and cricket used to be a game played during winter, the energy level was missing. So we called it a day and dispersed to watch a movie. (to be continued …)